Demountable wheel.



A. P'. PRATHER oEMouNTABLE WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED NOV..23, |914.

l 170,668. Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

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A. P. PRATHER DEMouNTAsLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.23. 1914.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

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v able Wheels; and following to be a j n i Asn r. PRATHER, or`snonen'rowiv, KENTUCKY.

DEIVIOUNTABLE WHEEL.

Licence.

Specification of Letters Patent.

`Application led November 23, 1914; Serial No. 873,584.

.To all whom 'it'may concern:

" :Be it known thatI, AsA P. PRATHER, a

Georgetown, .in t e county of Scott and State of Kentucky, have inventedvcertain new land useful Improvements in Demount- I do. hereby declarethe full, clear, and. exact descriptionof the.` invention, such as willenable others skilled inthe art to which it v appertains to make and usethe same.

' securely My invention relates to new and useful j improvementsinde'mountable wheels, and is particularly an lmprovement over my for.

mer Patent No. 1,116,916 issued November 10, 1914, andmy prime o ject isto 4provide an auxiliary hub section or socket for the reception of theinner ends of the'spokes, of"

such construction that it can be quickly attached to or removed from\thehub.

A further object is to provide means to lock the auxiliary or.cooperating y hub member in rm and rigid engagement 'with the hubproper.

A further4 object is to provide means for securing the locking mechanismagainst rotation after it has been attached to ythe parts of the hub.

Other objects and'advantages will'be hereinafter set forth and moreparticularly pointed out in the accompanying specification. i In theaccompanying drawings which are made a part of this application, Figurevl is a side elevation of a wheel employingmy improved device ,andshowing the same locked in position on a hub. Fig. 2 is an enlargeddetail central sectional view of the device. Fig. 3 is a fragmentaryperspectlve view of one form of locking meansfor holding parts of thedevice from undue rotation. Fig. 4 is an elevation thereof. Fig. 5 is asectional view showing a modified form of receptacle for the ends of thespokes. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional viewl showing a modifiedconstruction of the locking mechanism. Fig. 7 is a detail elevation ofthe form of locking mechanism shown in Fig. 6, and Fig. 8

is a detailelevation of the form of nut emduced on the ordinary hub,said hub'having a circumferential flange 2 at its inner end, theperipheral face of the hub, adjacent its connection with the flange 2having a bevel portion 3 for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth.

Adapted to co-perate with the hub proper I 1s an auxiliary hub t whichis preferably constructed in two sections 5 and 6, said seo- .t1ons,-when properly secured together, formmg 4a channel for the reception ofthe lowerl ends ofthe spoke members 7. Section. 5 1s preferablyconstructed substantially L-shaped in cross section to form a basemember 8` upon'which the ends of the spokes rest, the section 6 beingsubstantially in the form of a disk and when `the spokes are ratenteuteuerste. l

seatedwithin the auxiliary hub, bolts or the said bolts securely lockingthe two sections of the auxiliary hub together and rmly clamping thespokes therein. The apex or in ner edge ofthe section 5 at its juncturewlth the base .8 is beveledl as shown at 10, which bevel cooperates withthe bevel 3 on the hub, theobject of said beveled portions being to rmlyseat the auxiliary hub on the main hub by giving the ,same a wedgingaction, this being required in view of the fact vthat the auxiliary hubis constructed to freely pass over the hub 1 when being introducedthereon or removed therefrom.

After.

the main hub, it is securely locked into position thereonP and thebeveled portions lirmly engaged with each other by means of a nut ll,said nut engaging threads l2 upon the exterior of the hub 1 at the outerend. of the hub and it will be readily the auxiliary hub has beenintro-A seen that when the nut 1l is properly turned home, the auxiliaryhub will be securely clamped between said nut and the flange 2 of thehub. In order to compensate for any shrinkage or wear at the inner endsof the spokes, whereby said spokes would t loosely within the auxiliaryhub, the base 8 is made slightly shorter than the extreme width of theauxiliary hub, resulting in the section 6 projecting slightly beyond theend of the base, so that by tightening the nut 11 or the bolts 9, thesection 6 will move inwardly and ftake up the space occasioned by saidshrinkage or wear. It will further be seen that by shortening the end ofthe base 8, the nut 11 will always find a bearing against the section 6,and constantly direct pressure against the ends of the spokes. If deemedadvisable the threads 12 may be turned on to the hubs as right and lefthand threads, but in this instance, I have shown a locking means whichwill positively prevent the nut from leaving the end ofthe hub, whichconi sists of a key 13, the upper end of which is preferably providedwith an angular projection 14, which rests in the path of the ends ofthe bolts 9, said key being entered in a seat 15 provided in the innerface of the flange 16 of the nut and in order to hold the key inposition, a screw or the like 17 is entered through the flange 16 andthrough the key 13 thereby positively locking the key in engagement withthe nut.

In F ig. 5 of the drawings, I have shown a slightly modified form ofauxiliary hub which consists of the sections 18 and 19, both of saidsections being substantially L- shaped in cross section to form the basemembers 20 and 21. The section 20 has a tongue 22 which is designed tooverlap and coperate with the tongue 23 of the section 19, the corner ofsection 19, at its intersection with the base 21, being also tapered, orbeveled as shown at 24, to coperate with the beveled rib 25, of the nut26, thus insuring a close fit of the auxiliary hub upon the main hub.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings, I have shown the form of device for attachingthe auxiliary hub to the ordinary form of hub 27, now in common use, andas the walls of the said hub are of less thickness than the walls of thehub in my improved construction,

a sleeve 28 isy introduced over the hub 27 and secured thereon in anypreferred manner as by sweating or by the means of studs 29. In thisfigure and in Figs. 7 and 8 I have also shown a varied form of lockingdevice for the nut 30, which consists of a shaft 31 having at one end across head 32 from the ends of which project lingers 33 and 34, theshaft 31 projecting transversely between the spokes 35 and having itsfree end seated in a an orifice 36 in the member 37, said shaft beinglongitudinally movable in said orifice. The lingers 33 and 34 extendthrough openings 38 and 39 in the section 40 of the auxiliary hub andnormally project a distance beyond the outer face of said section, thenger 34 being adapted to engage any one of a plurality of seats 41formed in the inner face of the flange 42 of the nut. A coil spring 43is introduced around the shaft 31 between the walls of the section 37and the cross head 32, the tension of said spring being sufficient tonormally hold the fingers 33 and 34 in an outward position.

By this device, it will be readily seen that by applying pressure to thelinger 33, the linger 34 will be moved out of the path of the flange ofthe nut 30 until such a time as the nut has been turned home on thesleeve, when, by releasing the pressure on the finger 33, the springwill immediately extend the finger 34 into engagement with one of theseats in the face of the flange of the nut 30 and Will hold said nutagainst rotation until such time as inward pressure is again exertedagainst the linger 33 to release the finger 34 from engagement with theseat in the flange.

In this device, it will be readily seen that I have provided meanswhereby the spokes, felly and tire maybe quickly removed from the huband a new wheel introduced thereon and at a minimum expense of time andlabor. It will further be seen that I have provided a positive means forengaging and holding the inner ends of the spokes in their relativeposition and in view of the simplicity of the parts employed, any one orall of the'spokes may be quickly released and ncW ones inserted in theirplace. It will further be seen that this device will be of great benefitfor tourists or those engaged in racing, in view of the rapidity withwhich one wheel may be removed and another attached.

What I claim is: v

1. In a demountable wheel, the combination with a hub having exteriorthreads thereon, and a flange at one end of the hub, the face of the hubadjacent the flange being beveled, of an auxiliary hub comprising twosections, one of said sections being substantially L-shaped in crosssection and forming a base, a portion of said last section having abevel to coperate with the bevel of the hub, means to lock said sectionstogether and clamp spoke members therein, a locking nut coperating withthe threads of the hub, vthe inner face of said nut having a seat, and'alocking key entering said sea t and coperating with said locking meansfor said sections to limit the rotation of the nut when applied to use.

2. In a demountable wheel, the combination with a hub having threads onthe exterior thereof, and a flange at one end, of an auxiliary hubcomprising two side sections, and a base portion, said side sections andbase portion forming a receptacle for` end and a flange at the oppositeend, of an' auxiliary hub, comprising two side sections, one of saidsections having a base portion integral therewith, bolts to secure thesections together and clamp the ends of spoke members therebetween,saidv base member being of less length than the extreme width of thesections when applied vto use, a nut cooperating with the threads of thehub to lock the auxiliary hub in position thereon, said nut having avertically extending seat in the face thereof, a locking key adapted toenter said seat and having its outer end projecting in the path of saidbolts to limit the rotating movement of said nut, and a binding screwextending through the nut and key to hold the key against longitudinalmovement.

4:. In a demountable Wheel, the combination with a hub having threadsthereon, and an auxiliary hub formed of sections and bolts extendingtransversely through the y sections to clamp spoke ends therebetween, ofa nut coperat'ing with the threads of the hub, said nut having a seattherein, a key adapted to it said seat, and a binding screw extendingthrough said nut and key and against the face of one of the spokereceiving sections.

In testimony whereof I have signed my `name to this specification intheA presence of two subscribing witnesses.

j ASA P. PRATHER. Vitnesses:

SAML W. CooxREnL,

C. S. FRYE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe (Jommisezionerb of Patents,

- Washington, D. C."

